FAO-WFP Joint Strategy on Information Systems for Food and Nutrition Security

Summary

Strategy timeframe: 2012-17

November, 2011

Version: 10 November 2011

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Executive Summary

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) have collaboratively developed this Joint Strategy on Information Systems for Food and Nutrition Security. The Joint Strategy represents a commitment to support Member States in strengthening – in both the development and emergency contexts – the collection, management, analysis, dissemination, and use of data and information relevant to the design and implementation of policies and programmes to achieve food and nutrition security, while also addressing gender concerns and social inequities.

The FAO–WFP Joint Strategy on Information Systems for Food and Nutrition Security:

Ø  reflects a commitment to the “twin-track” approach to hunger reduction;

Ø  responds to growing demand for in-depth analysis of underlying and emerging factors affecting vulnerable livelihood systems that result in acute and chronic food insecurity and malnutrition, including gender disparities in food security status;

Ø  represents a user-driven approach to providing information services and capacity development support at country and regional levels; and

Ø  identifies comparative advantages and synergies between FAO and WFP for achieving food and nutrition security.

The Joint Strategy is guided by the following vision statement:

“FAO and WFP will work together to promote evidence-based food and nutrition security decisions by strengthening national and regional capacity to undertake credible, relevant and timely assessments and analysis, and to become the global reference for food and nutrition security standards, statistics and information.”

The vision will be achieved through the implementation of activities that fall under fourcomplementary pillars:

i)  capacity development to support information systems on food and nutrition security of member countries;

ii)  standards, methods, and tools for information systems on food and nutrition security;

iii)  monitoring and in-country food security and nutrition assessments; and

iv)  statistics, information and analysis on food and nutrition security (global public goods).

The implementation of the Joint Strategy will emphasize national ownership and leadership. Mechanisms for collaboration, improved communication and partnership-building have also been identified. The guiding principles of the strategy highlight, among other things, the need to systematically place governments at the centre of planning and decision-making processes. High priority is placed on ensuring complementarity with the policies and practices of partners, including national governments, regional institutions, non-governmental organizations and academia.

Rationale and Purpose of the Joint FAO–WFP Strategy

1. This document presents the strategic framework in which FAO and WFP seek to coordinate and reorient their work at the global level and reorient investment toward longterm sustainable Information Systems for Food and Nutrition Security (ISFNS) led by national and regional institutions. The Joint Strategy is fully aligned with the FAO and WFP corporate strategies on ISFNS.

2. The ISFNS strategies were developed partly in response to the joint thematic evaluation of information systems for food security conducted by FAO and WFP in 2009.[1] They address issues raised in the evaluation, which recommended: i) providing effective support to Member States and the global community in ISFNS development; ii) sharpening organizational response to known and emerging threats to food security; iii) renewing commitments to timely and reliable demand-driven products and services; and iv)improving internal and external communication channels.

3. The Joint Strategy supports the strategic plans and organizational mandates of WFP and FAO, which recognize that effective ISFNS are essential to meeting the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), specifically MDG 1. It reflects a commitment to the twin-track approach to hunger reduction, which seeks to address both acute hunger resulting from rapid-onset shocks, along with chronic hunger.[2]

Current and Emerging Food and Nutrition Security Issues

4. The Joint Strategy represents a collaborative effort by FAO and WFP to design and enhance timely and effective information systems that are able to address both current and emerging issues expected to exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity. These include – but are not limited – to:

Ø  Climate change. Climate change is expected to increase variability in food production, and increase risks to lives and livelihoods from extreme weather events, often resulting in disruptions to local and global food markets; poorer countries and populations at risk of food insecurity will be among those least able to cope with these trends.

Ø  Volatility in markets. Food prices in most low-income, food-deficit countries remain above the pre-crisis level of 2008.[3] Many countries face large food import bills and uncertainty about future prices in both input and commodity markets.

Ø  Urban malnutrition. The majority of the world’s population live in urban areas. The 1billion people who live in informal settlements and slums face particular food security and nutrition challenges such as high transaction and transport costs and greater reliance on prepared foods and cash purchases.

Ø  Sustainability of diets. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, changing consumer preferences and population increases compromise the availability of – and access to – nutritious foods and the resilience of the food system, and threaten livelihoods.

Ø  Transboundary threats. Food chain emergencies, in particular those that are of a transboundary nature, threaten human health, food security, livelihoods and economic activity.[4]

Ø  Biofuel–food trade-off. The increased demand for biofuels has raised concern that a reallocation of resources will increase the price volatility of food commodities, increase competition for arable land and compromise the global stockpile of food.[5]

Ø  Gender concerns. In many contexts, women have less access to assets, resources and services, than men, which negatively impacts on agricultural productivity, food security and economic development.[6] Programmes and policies must address women’s multiple roles to ensure gender equity in food and nutrition security.

Roles of FAO and WFP in Supporting ISFNS Work Globally

5. This Joint Strategy aims to formalize and strengthen the collaborative roles of WFP and FAO in supporting worldwide ISFNS work and related initiatives and facilitate partnership with food security stakeholders. This includes: FAO and WFP membership in the UnitedNations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the global food security cluster and the nutrition cluster, and, along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), joint support to the Secretariat of the Committee on WorldFoodSecurity (CFS). Furthermore, the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) and the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) initiative are essential international nutrition platforms to work with. FAO and WFP are both prepared to assume leadership roles, together with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in the proposed Food Security Information Network (FSIN), and to provide resources for its establishment and operation. Both agencies are actively engaged in the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) endorsed by the G-20 in June 2011 to increase information and transparency among key players in agricultural and food markets.

6. Outreach and institutional linkages. FAO has wide national representation based on organizational membership of 192 countries[7] and a multi-disciplinary workforce which draws on its specialized expertise located at Headquarters and a network of decentralized offices, which also includes 70 emergency rehabilitation and coordination units(ERCUs) comprising 130 food and nutrition security analysts that support national and regional ISFNS, conduct early warning, and analyse and disseminate food security and nutrition information. WFP’s field presence in more than 70 food-insecure and disasterprone countries and its network of 150 vulnerability analysis and mapping (VAM) staff dedicated to conducting food security and nutrition assessments allow the agency to directly implement ISFNS activities at national and sub-national levels. The combined capacities of the two agencies support national food security programmes.

7. Technical expertise. FAO has strong expertise in managing and analysing data and statistics on food, agriculture and nutrition to inform policy and programme development, including through studies with long-term perspectives. This is further supported by specialized capacity in trade and market analysis, gender analysis and rural employment, agro-meteorology, remote sensing, geo-spatial analysis, monitoring of crops and livestock conditions, and disaster risk management. WFP has extensive expertise in designing and managing food security and nutrition assessments and surveys at household and community levels using advanced technology and quantitative and qualitative approaches. This places WFP in a distinctive position for real-time, efficient data collection and analysis with local partners. In response to recent global price volatility, FAO has strengthened its global price monitoring capacity, while WFP focuses on market and price analysis at sub-national level and linkages with household food security.

8. Emergency and development contexts. WFP and FAO have developed complementary expertise in short- to medium-term emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery,rehabilitation and development contexts. FAO has developed expertise in disaster risk management and in responding to emergencies affecting various livelihood systems in the food and agriculture sectors, including specifically in the crop, livestock, fisheries, forestry and natural resources sub-sectors, commodity markets and trade, urban agriculture, rural employment, nutrition and food safety. Its development work is focused on medium- to long-term capacity development efforts and investment in these sectors, and on the analysis of underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity in global, regional and national policies, programmes and strategies. WFP has a long history of providing food assistance effectively in both emergency and development contexts, including by providing expertise in social protection and safety net programmes, food or cash transfer activities, nutrition programmes andschool feeding. It has operational credibility with donors – especially in terms of logistics capabilities, telecommunications, targeting and rapid response. Extensive field-based assessment staff enable WFP to rapidly conduct livelihood, market, nutrition and spatial analyses, especially in sudden-onset situations, and to support national food security, nutrition and disaster risk reduction strategies and policies.

9. Institutional and capacity development. FAO and WFP both play important roles in strengthening the ISFNS capacity of institutional partners, including through the implementation of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). FAO develops long-term government capacity in the collection, analysis and dissemination of data and statistics on food and nutrition security, working through regional organizations and with governments to provide appropriate methods and tools for capacity development. WFP directly supports the data collection, processing and analysis capacities of national counterparts by providing both on- and off-the-job skills development needed for implementing emergency assessments, vulnerability analyses, food security monitoring, market analyses and early warning products.

10. Assessments. WFP and FAO each have specialized skills for conducting food security, nutrition and livelihoods assessments. They jointly lead crop and food security assessment missions (CFSAMs), and participate in inter-agency assessment processes such as those led by the IASC Needs Assessment Task Force (NATF) and post-disaster needs assessments led by the United Nations/World Bank/European Community and governments. WFP is a recognized leader in supporting countries to conduct household- and community-level food security assessments and baseline surveys – over 100 per year – including joint assessment missions (JAMs) with the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and nutrition surveys in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. FAO has developed the Assessment and Programme Formulation in Agriculture Emergencies, the Livelihood Assessments Tool and the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS). WFP has produced guidelines for conducting emergency assessments, establishing livelihood baselines and monitoring.

11. Monitoring and early warning. FAO has well-established capacity to support national and regional monitoring and early warning systems through: the Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS), the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES), the Rapid Agricultural Disaster Assessment Routine (RADAR) and the AgrometShell. WFP has a wide network of staff to support national and sub-national food security monitoring systems. It integrates market and price impact analysis, climate and hazard analysis, remote sensing data and risk profiling of vulnerable groups and forecasts of shock-affected populations to support early warning and emergency preparedness. Both agencies are members of the Global Partnership for the IPC, and are supporting joint forecasting tools such as the Shock Impact Modelling Project.

12. Data and statistics. FAO and WFP jointly generate a wide range of data, statistics and analysis related to food and nutrition security at global, regional and country levels. FAO maintains FAOSTAT, the world’s most comprehensive database on food and agricultural statistics, and plays a leadership role in the implementation of the inter-agency GlobalStrategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. WFP collaborates with the World Bank and national statistics offices to collect and analyse food security information on national household income and expenditure surveys, through Living Standards Measurement Studies. WFP is collaborating with FAO in incorporating household food security indicators produced by the comprehensive food security and vulnerability analyses(CFSVAs) into FAOSTAT. FAO has analysed a large number of household surveys and other data to update the FAO indicator on undernourishment.

13. Food security and nutrition analysis. Joint analytical work carried out by FAO and WFP includes the annual report The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) as well as country publications such as CFSAMs, CFSVA studies and food security monitoring system reports. Both agencies have expertise in the analysis of food-related causes of malnutrition and on methods to assess dietary diversity at household levels.

Vision and Guiding Principles

Vision Statement
FAO and WFP will work together to promote evidence-based food and nutrition security decisions by strengthening national and regional capacity to undertake credible, relevant and timely assessments and analysis, and to become the global reference for food and nutrition security standards, statistics and information.

14. The Joint Strategy aims to strengthen statistics, information and knowledge with the objective to reduce poverty, hunger and malnutrition in the framework of FAO’s and WFP’s institutional goals. These goals include:

Ø  reduction of the absolute number of people suffering from hunger, progressively ensuring a world in which all people at all times have sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life;

Ø  elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all with increased food production, enhanced rural development and sustainable livelihoods;